New Hospital for Baliís North

The Bali Daily (Jakarta Post) reports that Bali’s northernmost regency of Buleleng is planning to construct a new hospital.

Nyoman Sutjidra, deputy regent for Buleleng and a trained physician, has announced the new hospital will be built in 2014.

Sutjidra said, revealing the name and location of the new medical center: “We are expecting that the Rp 15 billion [US$1.23 million] funding can be disbursed in March or April next year. Then we can start building Pratama Hospital. We have decided the location for the hospital, which is in Tangguwisia village in Banjar district. The land belongs to the provincial administration.”

The Rp. 15 billion budget is expected to be sufficient to build a “non-class regional hospital.”

An additional allocation of Rp. 23 billion (US$1.9 million) is being provided by Jakarta to pay for an expansion and refurbishment of the existing Buleleng Regional Hospital in Singaraja.

A 2011 survey conducted by the Indonesian Health Ministry placed Buleleng’s health services at 218 out of 440 regencies across the Country.

At the root of the problem, according to Sutjidra, is a shortage of qualified doctors, specialists, nurses, midwives and paramedics working in the Island’s North. “The limited number of health professionals has hampered the improvement of healthcare services,” he explained.

As a result, many northern residents travel to Denpasar for a higher standard of medical care.

Buleleng is plagued a high mortality rate of 5% of all deliveries, higher than average HIV/AIDS rates, dengue fever and a host of other tropical diseases.